CAW

I survived the acronym!

Christmas Around the World has come and gone yet again, four times not I've been in the holiday show, but this year was different.

My Folk dance story is similar to his. No I didn't want to be a folk dancer since I was three, but as soon as I knew about Christmas around the world, I had a desire to wear nightgowns and red hopak boots. It was the ultimate arrival. You knew you ahd made it in the folk dance world if you could be seen with a hopak basic and some red ribbons in your hair at the end of a long dress rehearsal.

This year was the year, and I loved every second. It's easy to complain about how much time you don't have, and how many assignments you aren't doing your best on when you devote every evening to the depths of the Marriott center for 5 days straight. But then you stop, and you notice the magic of lit Christmas trees, and the way the puzzle like a way a show comes together. I stopped and watched girls putting make-up on boys, and watched, Ron fixing stressed muscles. Ed is in his element, and is bounding every which way, staying up till 3 am staining bread and salt plates for the Ukrainian presentation. I saw that band and the dancers talking, the girls bonding over dressing room things that I won't mention here, and boys trying to see how much they could eat without affecting their performance.

Christmas Around the world is especially wonderful because it has become a sort of anniversary for mando player and I. A year ago we flirted as I warmed up in an Irish costume to the mandolin music of nickel creek. He played and I danced. Magic. There's really nothing like it.

This year he found ways to surprise me, puzzle pieces, notes, flowers and kiss on stage. I fell in love again with this wonderful red head who makes me see all the magic of Christmas each day I'm with him.

I love that we can express emotion through dance. Chinese was filled with the wonderment of beauty. I remember having those thoughts as I first listened to the song we dance to over a year ago. Hopak is filled with pride for family and values. Israeli is a prayer to God, and I think of the God I know and love as I dance. Irish is magic, always magic, but on Saturday it was different. I collected my thoughts off stage as I prepared for the soft shoe number and my thoughts turned to mando player and the love I feel for him. I danced love, and it was the most beautiful I've ever felt. Love radiated and I felt loved as I leapt across the stage. Then he was there, waiting in the wings as I skipped into the darkness. I couldn't help it then, and I cried knowing that love knows no bounds, and that the love I felt right then would only grow over time.

I love you mando player.